Quality Manager

Emporia Energy•Littleton, CO

24d•$150,000 - $175,000•Onsite

About The Position

Emporia Energy is seeking an experienced and self-directed Quality Manager to own and elevate quality systems, supplier performance, and supply chain continuity across our hardware product portfolio. This is a senior individual contributor role requiring someone who can operate with a high degree of autonomy, build structure where it does not yet exist, and drive meaningful outcomes without requiring close direction. The ideal candidate brings deep experience with consumer electronics contract manufacturing—particularly with overseas partners—and has a track record of establishing rigorous quality and supply chain processes in a fast-moving, startup-like environment. You will work cross-functionally with Engineering, Operations, Compliance, Product, and our contract manufacturing partners to ensure that Emporia products are manufactured to specification, that supply continuity is proactively maintained, and that our quality and operational systems continuously improve.

Requirements

BS or higher in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing & Operations Engineering, Supply Chain, or equivalent experience.
7+ years of experience in quality, supply chain, or operations roles within the consumer electronics industry or similarly regulated environments.
Self-directed and highly autonomous—able to establish priorities, create structure, and drive results without requiring close oversight.
Exceptional written and verbal communicator who leads with the bottom line — able to distill complex quality and supply chain issues into clear, concise takeaways for cross-functional teams and senior leadership.
Experience with PFMEA, control plans, and manufacturing quality systems such as ISO9001 or IATF16949
Demonstrated experience owning factory and product audits, supplier performance programs, and quality management systems (QMS) in a contract manufacturing environment.
Catches what others miss — typos, BOM discrepancies, and the one data point that doesn't belong. (Yes, there's an error in this posting. Did you find it?)
Direct experience working with international contract manufacturers and ODM/JDM partners.
Familiarity with UL certification processes and factory compliance requirements.
Experience with RMA/warranty analysis and driving systematic corrective actions.
Comfort working with PLM systems for BOM, ECO, and change management (e.g., Arena or equivalent).
A genuine human being who brings energy and humor to the workplace — we take the mission seriously, but not ourselves.
Experience with Google Workspace, Jira, and Confluence.
Ability to travel internationally approximately 10-20% of the time.

Responsibilities

Lead and execute CM factory audits and product quality audits; develop corrective action plans and track resolution to closure.
Own Emporia’s RMA and warranty process from end to end—analyze return data, identify systemic failure modes, work with Engineering and the CM to implement corrective actions, and report trends to leadership.
Partner with Emporia’s compliance team to ensure all products and contract manufacturing facilities meet UL and other applicable regulatory standards; manage compliance audit schedules and remediation activities.
Review technical production drawings, BOMs, data sheets, and manufacturing documentation for accuracy, completeness, and consistency prior to production release.
Contribute to continuous improvement of Emporia’s document control and change control processes (ECOs, MCOs, deviations) in coordination with Emporia Document Control Manager and PLM systems.
Drive quality accountability with contract manufacturers: establish clear quality metrics, conduct regular performance reviews, and ensure supplier-originated issues are properly attributed and resolved.
Serve as Emporia's internal audit owner — maintaining the readiness of development processes, quality systems, and supporting documentation to withstand scrutiny from prospective partners, customers, or certification bodies, and leading the response to any audit findings.
Own and continuously improve Emporia’s Supplier Quality Manual.
Conduct structured supplier performance reviews and evaluations; maintain supplier scorecards and drive continuous improvement across the supply base.
Proactively monitor the supply chain for component EOL risks, single-source dependencies, allocation constraints, and other factors that could disrupt production; develop and present mitigation strategies to leadership.
Surface cost-down and CTQ component improvement opportunities and ensure process consistency across change control, supplier qualification, and CM-side validation — providing structured oversight too the internal and external project team accountable for executing each change end-to-end.
Work with Engineering and Planning to assess impact of product changes on the supply chain, including component phase-in/phase-out planning and E&O risk management.
Support continuous improvement of Emporia’s Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC) process by developing and refining templates, checklists, and other tools aligned to phase-gate milestones (EVT, DVT, PVT, MP).
Identify gaps in existing operational processes and independently design and implement improvements; proactively surface issues and solutions without waiting to be directed.
Create and maintain quality and supply chain reporting for leadership, including supplier scorecards, warranty trend reports, audit findings, and supply risk summaries.
As a startup, this role requires flexibility and a “wear many hats” mindset—this description does not capture all assignments.